Rav Isser Zalman, who was a vaunted student of Rav Chaim Brisker and author of the Even Haezel, marveled at the logic of his son-in-law. He answered, Thats because you dont understand the shiur. As time went on, however, and the security situation in Poland necessitated emigration, Rav Aharon often penned letters requesting certificates to Palestine on behalf of talmidim who requested his assistance. Thousands of straying children came home in his merit they returned to the Torah, they became Shabbos observant, they adorn Tefillin, they are occupied with Torah study, and they are building homes of Torah. Though the Lithuanian government was well aware that the Red Army tended to stay and even expand in any territory under their control, they conceded to the demands of the Soviets. And with that hed proceed with the shiur. This further deepened the yeshivahs deficit. Rav Yechiel Mordechai Gordon of the Lomza Yeshivah was traveling to Detroit, as it was already scheduled for him earlier, therefore I dont know yet where we will be for Pesach.. Luminaries who studied in Slutzk during its first two decades include Rav Elazar M. Shach, Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, Rav Aryeh Levine, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, Rav Moshe Aharon Poleyoff, and Rav Moshe Feinstein. When the Frank family heard that Rav Archik was the leading candidate for rosh yeshivah, they vehemently protested. Rav Aharon Kotler - SukkahScenes Perhaps Rav Aharons boldest project was undertaken in the last decade of his life, when he initiated the founding of Chinuch Atzmai in 1953. Bunim suggested Lakewood, New Jersey, since it was out of town but not too far from New York. But what is difficult for a Russian principal, was utterly simple and straightforward for an illui from Knesses Yisrael. His grandson Rav Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman explained it as follows. Rabbi Yaakov Tcherbochovsky, husband of Rav Aharons sister Devorah, served on the yeshivahs hanhalah as well. Its excellent, except the last sentence, which must be removed, said Rav Aharon. When the Nazis enacted a law in Germany during the 1930s banning traditional shechitah, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg of Berlin wrote to halachic decisors of the time to elicit their opinions on whether German Jewry could rely on a leniency to stun the animals prior to shechitah. 'The Kennedy Curse' | Mort Laitner | The Blogs Rav Aharon traveled by boat on his first trip there in 1945. The departure of Rav Bishko soon after the yeshivah opened compounded the financial strain. Torah education is being built, dinner is served and the ever present Mishna Berura never leaves his hand. He sought out Arke out of concern for the potential adverse influence of the modern movements sweeping through Minsk. Rav Aharon loved these children. Upon their arrival at the train station in Baranovich, reports trickled in that a refugee crisis was brewing in Vilna, with overcrowding and food shortages. The yeshivah had been founded in 1897 by the Alter of Slabodka at the behest of the rav of Slutzk, Rav Yaakov David Wilowski (the Ridbaz). This arrangement presented an open door for the various ideological movements sweeping the increasingly radicalized Jewish street. Rav Noach Bornstein, later one of the great students of the Brisker Rav, studied in Kletsk before transferring to Mir. Arke Sislovitzer is Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Mordechai told him. With his arrival in Slabodka, he enjoyed a . At that time Vaad Hatzalah had one million dollars ready for transfer, to be used as barter for Jewish captives who were held in the claws of the accursed German murderers. One day, David was asked to drive Rav Aharon from his home in Boro Park to a wedding in Manhattan. When he stepped off the platform in midtown Manhattan on that fine spring day, few knew that the Torah landscape of America was about to be transformed forever. Rav Aharon would oftentimes make extended visits to Israel, during which he delivered regular shiurim at Etz Chaim. Haosek bmitzvah patur min hamitzvah someone engaged in a mitzvah is exempt from performing another mitzvah. All eyes focused on Rav Aharon, the ultimate decisor, who said, Really, Rav Hutner is right, but what will the balabatim think when they see us skipping Minchah? The last two decades of Rav Aharons life were marked by a balance between various leadership capacities in the worldwide Torah community and his efforts to mold Beth Medrash Govoha as a premier Torah institution. Shneur Kotler - Wikipedia John Pehle, Hon. Kotler was born Aharon Pines in visa, Russian Empire (historically Lithuania, now Belarus) in 1892.He was orphaned at the age of 10 and adopted by his uncle, Yitzchak Pines, a rabbinic judge in Minsk. Following World War I, the Lakewood Township embarked on the construction of a memorial to local soldiers who had perished, inviting famed cantor Yossele Rosenblatt to sing Kel Malei at the consecration. Rav Boruch Ber wouldnt hear of it. These efforts of the Alter to protect the young prodigy would pay dividends for generations to come he would later say that it was worth maintaining the entire yeshivah with all of its hundreds of students if only to produce that one student, Arke Sislovitzer, who eventually became the great Rav Aharon Kotler. By Rabbi Yair Hoffman This Shabbos will mark the 53rd yartzeit of Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l. Below is part one of a short biography. Just weeks after Rav Aharons arrival in Americaon Erev Pesach of 1941, the Nazis invaded Soviet-occupied Lithuania andbrought an end to the golden age of Torah study in Eastern Europe. He was brought to America on April 10, 1941 by the Vaad Hatzalah rescue organization, and guided it during The Holocaust. During the week, the longtime mashgiach Rav Nosson Wachtfogel ran the yeshivah. The faculty at Slutzk realized that the yeshivah would have to move away from Bolshevik sovereignty in order to continue operating, yet Rav Isser Zalman categorically refused to abandon his rabbinical responsibilities to his community. Another organizer of the New York event was a former Slutzk talmid named Zadok Kapner, a brilliant scholar who had become a successful physician but was still said to be one of the greatest Talmudic minds in America. Contrast that with the current era. Rabbi Alter Pekier is as at right. Oftentimes it wasnt limited to mere abandonment of religion; it was openly hostile toward mitzvah observance. The rosh yeshivah was alone, separated from his students albeit not for lack of trying to bring them to safety. Must leave Moscow within 24 hours. He decided to consult with Rav Aharon who told him, Bshum oifen nisht! I go, Rav Hutner answered, simply to hear Rav Aharon Kotler utter the word Torah.. Initially, the proud but small Kletzk community planned on supplementing the building fund through donations from the Kletzk Landsmanshaft communities in the United States. The Sislovitzer paced up and down the room, lhavdil like a Slabodka bochur with a difficult question in the Gemara, spun his thumb and readily solved the difficult mathematical problem. He saw in the case of the Gaon a genuine Divine revelation. They claimed it would cause collateral damage to an already frosty relationship between Chinuch Atzmai and the Israeli government, which was vying for the same funding for its own educational and cultural institutions. Israeli Agudah politician Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz once asked a man whose lifestyle seemed different from Rav Aharons ideals why he was a donor to Beth Medrash Govoha. And while he supported and interacted with many different types of faithful Jews enjoying a close relationship with the Kopyczynitzer Rebbe, the Satmar Rav and the Tchebiner Rav he was unfailingly true to his roots and identity. Hakoras Hatov: The Surprising Middah of Winter - Yated.com At her funeral many years later, Rav Aharon delivered the sole eulogy while crying copious tears. PDF Saam Chayim - Agudath Israel of America But what can I do? A rush to Vilna commenced, as thousands of refugees clogged the roads in desperation. Rav Aharon is much more than just the rosh yeshivah of Kletzk!, Rav Aharon delivering a shiur in Kletzk In listening to Rav Aharon, one always sensed the genius of a deep and penetrating mind arriving at simple conclusions. It was a lesson that many young Americans absorbed, because in addition to producing a cadre of future Torah leaders, Rav Aharon sought to educate a new generation of balabatim about the primacy of supporting Torah and mitzvah observance. The House. With penetrating vision and powerful determination, he inspired a Torah revolution on three continents but thats just part of the story. It eventually became the light that disseminated Torah across France under the leadership of Rav Chaim Chaikin, and yet another initiative of Rav Aharon that wielded a monumental impact. Rav Aharon Kotler is the Rosh Hayeshivah there. Rabbi Shurin then added: Rav Isser Zalman shared something personal with me. To the postwar generation, the practice of Torah lishmah was relegated to history books and serial novels in the Yiddish dailies. Rav Aharon was once delivering a shiur in Kletzk when a stranger entered. This would be especially true regarding European Jewry. Rav Aharon Kotler was leaving the world. His heart pulsed with joy as 25,000 strong rejoiced in lockstep. One of Rav Aharons maxims was One should imagine that his entire spiritual standing is literally dependent on how he utilizes the present moment, for the time that comes afterwards is a completely different entity., He wrote, The great benefit that a Yeshiva brings to Klal Yisrael, accrues to the entire nation, even to those who have distanced themselves from the Torahs ways. Two decades after Rav Isser Zalman spoke out on his behalf, Rav Moshe Mordechai finally had an opportunity to repay him by arranging the shidduch between Chana Perel and Rav Aharon. The following day saw the Alters return. At first, he was reluctant, claiming that it was a resort where people came for pleasure and vanity, and not fit for a spiritual center. Rav Isser Zalman told me that hed long been aware of young Ahrele Sislovitzer, the prodigy of Slabodka, and had hopes of becoming his father-in-law one day. In summarizing the shmuessen, Rav Nosson Wachtfogel once remarked, The rosh yeshivah had just one shmuess the requirement to study Torah, the need to accept upon oneself the yoke of Torah., In eulogizing Rav Aharon, Rav Moshe Sherer utilized the Gemaras description of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel at the Simchas Beis Hashoeivah celebrations in the Bais Hamikdash. Rav Shaul Kagan, founder of the Pittsburgh Kollel, wrote that an older Kletzk student described how Rav Aharon once insisted on delivering the daily shiur despite a high fever. A week later the Wehrmacht invaded Poland from the west, while on September 17 the Red Army invaded from the east. Yet his sense of responsibility for the wider yeshivah world was astonishingly broad. Rav Aharons immediate placement in the yeshivah proper awarded him unique status. Much of the difficulties faced by Rav Aharon in America stemmed from the fact that Kletzk was a relatively new yeshivah and didnt have many alumni serving in prominent roles in America to assist in making connections and collecting multi-year pledges Rav Aharon had received. It was also a symbolic and no less daring personal crossing for Rav Aharon. Decades later, he still recalled the scene: I saw an older man speaking with a passion I had never seen before or since. He told my father that he hoped to eventually have over a hundred students. Each Generation and Its Maimonides: The Maimonides of Rabbi Aharon Its simply not worth it for me to stay here and miss out on such blessings.), The Chanukas Habayis in Kletzk was an impressive event that enhanced the yeshivahs prestige. Senior activists advised Rav Aharon that this plan was a fools errand. We went to see Secretary Morgenthau in order to get permission to transfer these funds. After a brief stint in Krinik, he arrived in Minsk where he formed a lifelong friendship with Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky and Rav Reuven Grozovsky. He had re-sanctified a city by a simple relocation of 15 men!. As he headed to the Kovno railway station, the Alter was notified and rushed to the station (another version has him sending a student). For a time, Jews were actually forbidden from staying in the two Lakewood hotels he built. Rabbi Nathan Baruch contends that Rav Aharon felt that a public forum was not the proper venue to highlight the plight of the Jews, because he believed the nations of the world reveled in the tragedies befalling the Jewish People. The rav of Kletzk, Rav Chaim Shimon Herensohn, is on Rav Aharons immediate right. The early years of the yeshivah witnessed an interesting blend. Therefore, we ask Hakodosh Baruch Hu that you should be zocheh to be matzliach and constantly continue your efforts. He became the son-in-law of Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, another great Talmid Chacham, and they had mutual respect to a high degree. Another day school, a yeshivah gedolah, kollelim that dotted the fruited plains. The extent of Rav Aharons mesirus nefesh for Americas Torah future and the steep nature of that uphill battle are neatly encapsulated in a recollection shared by Rabbi Berel Wein. Kletzk was forced to leave Yanova and split up to evade detection. The offer was tempting, considering his low salary at the Agudah. Rav Yaakov, who wasnt prone to hyperbole, later recalled his mothers reaction upon meeting his friend: Who is this boy? As a rosh yeshivah himself, Rav Aharon understood the predicament and advised the Vaad to look the other way, in a letter to Vaad secretary Rav Yosef Shub in 1933: You understand that at this point individual fundraising is now viewed as permissible. He agreed to sell his property at a discounted price. The rest, approximately 80, will be given to us by the Vaad HaYeshivos, as they promised that they would be ready right after the holiday. At the bottom of the letter Rav Aharon adds a note saying, Perhaps the bookstore will accept a note from the Vaad promising payment shortly., Rav Aharons approach to communal leadership was the same as his approach to Torah study: the establishment of firm principles, broadness of scope and a most detailed conclusion. Some yeshivah buildings were damaged, prices of living quarters have risen, and in general everything became more expensive as a result. Can you imagine, he said, his voice choked with emotion, what our downtrodden brothers in the (DP) camps think of such absurd luxury when they are still struggling to pull together all the broken pieces of their shattered lives? The silence from the audience rang louder than any verbal response. And of course we have the regular expenses of feeding the yeshivah. Back then, it was known simply as the Lakewood Yeshivah, and Rav Aharons leadership role was far from a given.
Buzz Williams Contract,
Royal Caribbean Costa Maya Excursions,
Blue Bloods Cast Guest Stars,
Articles R